Everybody Does It
by Joan Powers
Summary: Post The Good, the Bad and the Dominatrix Grissom and Catherine have different opinions about temptation and the nature of relationships. Implied GSR


Everybody Does It

By Joan Powers

**A/N:** I don't like LH. Mostly I despise how the writers turn into complete morons whenever she's involved. **I am not spoiled** **for this upcoming episode**. This is very loosely based on what the promos have implied. I'd love to hear your thoughts and I'm open to constructive criticism. Thanks to griot aka Michele, Ms. Grits, and PhDelicious for their valuable assistance.

**Summary:** Post "The Good, the Bad and the Hideous" Grissom and Catherine have different opinions about temptation and the nature of relationships. Implied GSR

**Type: **post episode

**Timeline/Spoilers:** Season 7 -- Post "The Good, the Bad and the Hideous" setting although **no spoilers** for this episode.

**Rating:** K/PG

"Do you believe this woman?" Catherine scoffed as she and Jim stepped into the hallway at the station.

He wryly shook his head. "Classic denial."

"C'mon, she woke up at two in the morning and her husband wasn't home. And then she admits that it's happened more than once. That wasn't clue enough that he was getting a little action on the side? Cut me a break, nobody works that late." Catherine was irritated by the worried wife routine.

Shrugging, Brass peered through the glass at the frail woman who was seated in the interrogation room with her face buried in her hands, shoulders slightly shaking. Grissom was still questioning her. More sympathetically, he added, "Guess you believe whatever keeps you going. She's a stay at home mom with two small kids. She has no power. All her family is back East. She has nothing else. Think it's possible that she found out about hubby's extracurricular activities and this whole bewildered 'my husband is missing' act is part of the cover up?"

"She's good, I'll give you that." Then again, most women would look pretty sad without proper makeup and accessories. Or decent wardrobe. The woman's faded Mickey Mouse T-shirt and worn blue jeans were more suitable for yard work rather than going out in public. Yet, perhaps that was calculated to enhance her pathetic air.

Brass sighed, "So what do you think happened with the husband?"

"He could've just left. A wife and two kids can get old." Catherine had seen it happen time and time again.

"Even though the wife denies any financial troubles, let's check their credit records. Most likely there's debt she's not aware of or if her husband is running around perhaps we can get an idea of his favorite rendezvous points. We'll also get a warrant for the house, in case she's more involved than she claims to be," Brass suggested.

"Why are you doing that?" Grissom closed the door to the interrogation room.

The detective laughed. "You can't be serious. Spouse goes missing. Wife stands to inherent his assets. It's text book."

"I believe her," Grissom firmly stated.

The ends of Catherine's mouth quirked up in amusement. Since when did Grissom think he had a better handle on reading people than she did? That was her area of expertise, not his. She could see gaping holes in this woman's story. Without anger or resentment, this Pollyanna claimed she could handle that her husband worked such marathon hours while she was isolated at home alone with the screaming brats.

"Yeah, and I'll sell you some real estate in the Florida swamp lands," she thought to herself.

Catherine was curious, "So how do you explain that she didn't call the station or hospitals at two am when she first woke up? Or the fact that when she couldn't reach him at his office at that time it didn't bother her? That doesn't sound worried to me – she even fell back asleep. And then she didn't wake up until six am when she finally started to look into the matter. That sounds like buying time to cover your tracks or giving the hit man a chance to hide the body."

"He's a university professor working towards tenure. She spoke with him at ten pm the night before. He had a grant deadline. She expected him to be late," Grissom explained.

Sensing tension growing between the two, Brass intervened, "Gil, you know in most homicides it's someone close. The spouse is first on the list. This is standard procedure."

Grissom wisely pointed out, "There's no body yet." Shifting gears, he asked, "Any leads on his car?" The wife had specifically mentioned that his vehicle was at least ten years old and she was concerned that it had broken down.

"Nothing yet."

"Any other leads?"

Brass shared, "The neighbors say they're a model couple who are usually doing stuff with the kids. Half the neighborhood kids are over that place."

Catherine suppressed a shudder at the thought of that type of home invasion.

"Any hobbies? Intramural sports?" Grissom probed.

"As far as we can tell, all this guy did was work. And do things with his family – soccer, throwing the football -- stuff like that. They're both highly regarded by neighbors. His co-workers respect him as well." Brass's phone rang so he turned to answer it. "Excuse me." Then he walked down the hall.

"Catherine, why are you being so hostile towards this woman?"

Anger simmered within her. "Because she's clueless. Everybody cheats. It's a fact. She needs to grow up and get over it."

"That's not necessarily true."

Catherine rolled her eyes. "How can you say that, doing what we do? What we've seen? Everybody gives in to temptation. Everybody has some skeleton in their closet or dirty little secret. This goody-goody act is ridiculous. Look at what Eddie did to me – all the crap I put up with."

Carefully considering his words, Grissom asked, "Did you ever cheat on Eddie?"

"Huh?" She was taken aback.

"Did _you_ ever cheat on Eddie?"

The slight reddening of her cheeks gave him his answer. "Oh," his faint response relayed his surprise.

She sputtered, "It was nothing -- it didn't mean anything. A one time thing. Sometimes you get caught up in the heat of the moment, you know? Or would you?"

Trying to shift the focus back on him and not wanting to let Grissom take the moral high road, the gears shifted rapidly in her head. Then she remembered a certain dominatrix who had been the focus of one of their cases just last week. She was the only person that Catherine had ever seen visibly rattle Grissom. In fact, she had sensed the sexual tension between those two in the woman's hospital room.

Grissom had eagerly volunteered to take her home, off the clock - of course. Was she his kryptonite? The only temptation that could make him seem human and fallible? She'd bet money that once they'd reached her place that one thing had rapidly led to another and even the almighty Gil Grissom hadn't been able to resist.

Fueled with fresh ammunition Catherine grinned, "What about Heather?"

Grissom froze, his self righteous expression dissolving.

She practically purred, "Not so easy to dismiss temptation when the ball is in your court, is it?" Not that there was anything wrong with him sleeping with the woman. They were consenting adults. They weren't bothering anyone. It just wasn't everyday she could win the upper hand with Gil Grissom. She wanted to see him squirm and hear him admit that he had normal impulses, like everyone else.

His face became flushed. "Catherine, just because you feel a certain way doesn't mean you have to act upon it. We're highest in the pecking order of the animal kingdom because we've supposedly mastered our impulse control. We don't eat our young or copulate with every available partner in sight to propagate the species." He paused as if remembering back to that moment. Out of lecture mode, he added more confidentially, "It _is _hard, but our choices affect more than just us. If your relationship means anything at all, you have to be able to resist such situations."

Before she could process that bomb shell he sadly murmured to himself, "You also have to face up to the consequences for being an idiot by creating the appearance of such an indiscretion."

Catherine was stunned. Not only had he not slept with Heather, even though he was clearly attracted to her, he also implied that he was already involved in a seriousrelationship and was in the doghouse with his significant other because of his recent actions. Before she could further explore those eye-opening admissions, Grissom regained his professional composure and steered the focus of the conversation back to her.

"Just because most people have trouble with controlling these impulses doesn't mean that everybody does. Are you jealous of this woman?"

Catherine laughed defensively, "You've got to be kidding. I'm not a sap. I live in the real world."

"Maybe her world is equally real to her."

She confidently shook her head. "Nobody has a marriage that's that strong,"

More compassionately Grissom commented, "Maybe you just had back luck with Eddie. Maybe you gave up too early on marriage Catherine."

Before she could respond, Brass strode over. "The mystery is solved. Some uniforms pulled the husband's car over down in Searchlight. He wasn't the driver. A Mr. Juan Rivera informed us that he dumped the driver along the side of highway 95. Patrol has already found the husband and he's on his way to Desert Palms Hospital. Other than a concussion and exposure, he'll be okay." Turns to Grissom, "Would you like to share the good news with our lady friend?"

Grissom smiled, "With pleasure."

THE END


End file.
